Exploring Restorative Justice and Other Alternatives for Youth Offenders in Singapore

Abstract

Restorative justice is much advocated as a fruitful response to youth offending. Singapore introduced restorative justice programmes in 1995 in recognition of the potential to change and reform youth offenders. This dissertation argues for further debate about the rhetoric discourse of restorative justice and its application in reality by exploring the proper division of functions between state, victims, offenders and the b communitiesb , and for greater emphasis upon procedural examination in the pursuit of the apparently beneficial goals of restorative justice. The first section introduces the characteristics of youth offending, the philosophy of restorative justice and seeks to ground a set of claims about restorative justice. In Singapore, the stateb s response to youth offending has been to pursue a fine equilibrium in the management of juvenile offenders such that the justice and restorative models are not opposing paradigms but complementary and work as mutually supportive elements of the juvenile justice system.